From the book
Lysis
Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordEmplēktos means capricious; erratic.
- In LysisThe bad are described as ἐμπλήκτους τε καὶ ἀσταθμήτους, capricious and unaccountable.
- Reading contextThese descriptions serve an interpretive restriction of the likeness thesis, rather than an independently developed psychological theory of wrongdoing.
- A place to readThe Greek example means “Capricious and unaccountable.”
- English renderings
- Capricious; erratic
Meaning
Capricious; erratic.
Grammatical category: adjective.
Use in the book
The bad are described as ἐμπλήκτους τε καὶ ἀσταθμήτους, capricious and unaccountable. This supports the suggestion that they are not like even themselves and therefore cannot supply a straightforward example of like befriending like.
The paired adjective ἀστάθμητος stresses the inability to find a stable measure or account of them in the edition’s rendering. These descriptions serve an interpretive restriction of the likeness thesis, rather than an independently developed psychological theory of wrongdoing.
Places to read
- 214c–dἐμπλήκτους τε καὶ ἀσταθμήτους — Capricious and unaccountable.